Quote of the day

Today's quote of the day:

I'd also like to say that whatever it is that Howard Dean knows, or whatever it is that he eats for breakfast every morning, if I could give it to every other Democratic office holder and would-be office holder, we would immediately become the majority in the Congress and we would have about 35 governors. I have to tell you, I think a big part of it is just producing for people, actually doing what you say you're going to do at election time.

-- Bill Clinton, 12 November 1997
(Via Value Judgement, a great new blog)

.Mac benefits

I've been wondering whether or not to renew my .Mac membership, and I have to say that Apple seems to be working on making it worth the $99/year. The latest new benefits: free VersionTracker Plus subscription, free iBlog software, and $30 off a FireWire drive. And that's in addition to the free StickyBrain 2, Solitare, and Marble Blast that they've had for a few weeks.

Now that it's free, I should probably check out iBlog at some point.

The right and wrong ways to do politics

There are right and wrong ways to do politics in the 21^st century.

Wrong: Doc Searls writes about the Wesley Clark suicide watch. The Clark campaign declared, and then went on a mission to kill off their web-based grassroots. Dumb, really dumb.

Right: Straight from the grassroots is the Printable Dean Meetup Flyer. It's a nice little application of Flash, done by a local volunteer, that can be used anywhere in the country. All you have to do is fill in a form with the location of your local Meetup, hit print, and voila! full color, personalized posters. No Photoshop or Publisher required.

Mac prices at macprices.com

I asked the other day where to find the best prices on new Macs, and the answer is MacPrices.com. Here's the numbers on the 15" PowerBook, and it appears that Amazon is the only one that's selling it without charging for either tax and/or shipping (in CA, at least).

A Sandman appreciation

I've been trying to convince Tom that he needs to read Neil Gaiman's The Sandman Series, even though Fantasy usually bores him to tears. Andy Ihnatko agrees with me, as does Laura Miller in Salon.

Later: Dan Lyke concurs.

roll your own news aggregator

How to roll your own news aggregator in PHP. I've been looking for something like this; I want to have a web page that consolidates a number of syndicated feeds. If there's a better way to do this, let me know in the comments, okay?

Duh

News that makes you say "Duh!":

• Reliance on Microsoft Called Risk to U.S. Security
• GOP insiders worry that president is vulnerable

iChat Streaming Icon

Now this sounds somewhat scary: iChat Streaming Icon. I borrowed an iSight for 24 hours last week, and it nearly convinced me that I want one. But, do I really want anyone with iChat AV to be able to watch me any time they're at their computer? I worry about editors, for instance, checking up on me: "Hey, we can tell just by looking at the expression on your face that you were gaming, not working... (Via Rael)

Spoke too soon

And 24 hours later, word comes that Mac OS X 10.2.8 has been pulled. Oopsie!

This, btw, is why I usually wait a few days before installing any update on a production machine.

10.2.8 is out

Mac OS X 10.2.8 Update is out. Don't fret that you missed 10.2.7; that was only available if you bought a G5 or one of the new laptops. Oddly enough, though, while 10.2.8 does work with the new laptops, it's not for the G5's.

Where to buy my AlBook?

Now that I've made the decision to buy a new laptop, question #2 becomes where to do it? Amazon has the one I want at list price, but with a few good extras:

• No tax
• Free shipping
• They're throwing in the Targus/Amazon Notebook Starter Kit, which they claim is worth $50
• If you also buy the Targus Blacktop Deluxe Notebook Backpack for $25, they'll throw in a $30 rebate
• I could also get their "Make no payments for 90 days on purchases over $199" deal, but I'd rather put it on my miles credit card

Do you know of anywhere with a better deal? I'm not in a screaming hurry, so it's okay if it would take awhile. Let me know!